Spielvereinigung Sued feat. Sjaella & Jan Schreiner

„So nah und doch so fern"

The name says it all, because two bodies of sound could hardly be much further apart. On the one hand the Big Band, 16 musicians, whose core competence is not necessarily the quiet tones, on the other hand 6 singers, whose greatest strength are the very fine nuances. Spielvereinigung Sued is mostly heard in clubs, Sjaella rather in churches - acoustic of course. And yet there is a unifying element - the search for new shores, for sounds and structures not yet heard, the joy of experimentation.

This connecting element is the common thread that runs through Jan Schreiner's compositions. If the pendulum swings more towards the comfort zone of one formation, the other must lean all the further out the window. The lowest common denominator is really small, but all the stronger in its effect.

But the title also carries a socio-political relevance: for years, the participants have been bothered by the still existing gap between East and West Germany, which of course also shows itself in the cultural scene, albeit often well hidden. To counter this grievance, Jan Schreiner invites Sjaella and the Spielvereinigung Sued to Cologne's Stadtgarten - thankfully supported by the Kunststiftung NRW.